Category Archives: Animals

The Numbers Game #18

Strong winds create whitecaps in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii
Strong winds whip up whitecaps in Kawaihae harbor.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 139. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Black-crowned Night Heron snaffles a Tilapia. Original post here.
A beekeeper removes a swarm of bees nesting in a wall
Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.
A firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
The firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano in 2017.
Hawaiian Stilts flying in Hawaii
Hawaiian Stilts in flight.
A pair of Northern Pintails on a pond in Hawaii
There’s always one who’s got to get your attention, as evidenced by these Northern Pintails.

Frass

A monarch butterfly caterpillar and its poops in Hawaii

This Monarch Butterfly caterpillar was busy munching its way through an Hawaiian Crown Flower plant. But all that eating means it poops a lot. That poop, politely known as frass, is what those greenish nuggets on the left are. My first thought when I saw them was, ‘those are big poops!’

The Numbers Game #17

A Pallid Ghost crab blends int o the beach in Hawaii
A Pallid Ghost Crab on the beach.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!

This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A green turtle swims in the waters off Hawaii
A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.
Crocodile Needlefish swim just below the surface in Hawaii
Two Crocodile Needlefishes cruise just below the surface.
Bentley Walker competes in the 2017 Ironman World Championship.
Ironman is hard work …
Bike pedals at 2017 Ironman World Championship.
… but colorful.

The Numbers Game #16

A Stump-toed gecko on a truck windshield.
This stump-toed gecko rode on my windshield for about 40 miles!

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 137. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A bee forages on a Rose Jatropha flower on the Big Island of Hawaii
A bee on a Rose Jatropha flower.
A mini-helicopter parked at Upolu Airport.
Mini-helicopter at Upolu.
A bluff formed by heavy rain.
Not the desert southwest, but a drying mud puddle.
A curly horned ram keeps watch.
A ram at Pu’u Wa’awa’a.
A passion vine butterfly foraging on lantana flowers.
A Passion Vine Butterfly on Lantana flowerrs.

The Numbers Game #15

Dark pink plumeria flowers in Hawaii
A dark pink plumeria.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 136. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

In Kailua Kona, this electronic sign flashes “Emergency Water Restriction” and “Stop Sprinkler Use.”
I saw this sign in Kailua Kona during a downpour. Original post here.
The plumage of birds at rest often has a wonderful layered look to it. This zebra dove is no exception.
The lovely plumage of a zebra dove.
A pueo looks watchful in Hawaii
A watchful pueo.
A stick insect blending in.
Vampire horse on the loose!

It was a whale of a time

A Humpback Whale emerges from the waters off Hawaii
A Humpback Whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii

The Humpback Whale season is drawing to a close. This past week or so, I’ve seen the odd one here or there, but that’s it. Before that, we’ve enjoyed a prolific season with lots of whales and lots of activity from them. Alas, none of those things translated into the kind of whale photos I long to capture, but it was, as always, a pleasure to see them. Not just to see them actually. This year, while snorkeling, I heard more whale singing than I have in several years.

Now, they’re heading to their Alaskan feeding grounds. For the calves, this is a perilous journey. Collisions with boats and entanglement in drifting fishing gear is a danger for all whales, but especially juveniles. Then there are predators, such as Orca Whales, which prey on the calves. But those that make it are part of a growing population of Humpbacks, as they rebound from their perilously low numbers before protections were introduced.